Looking to sell my Z for various reasons...monthly payments, crazy insurance, etc..

06' Base black/black 35K Miles
I owe: $4,500

...ironically, that's the same amount i have in cash to my name (401K) not included.

So how do I sell this thing when the bank still "owns" the title?

What's the smart thing to do?

 

You can sell a car with a lien.
You cannot transfer a title with a lien.

 

The bank technically owns the car until you pay it off. You say you have enough money to pay the car off... so the smart thing to do would be to pay it off and wait until you receive the title from the bank to simplify the process of transferring ownership when you sell the car. You could also sell the car, and use that money to pay the car off and the buyer will have to wait until everything clears with the title to receive the title. It is easier to sell a car when you can say that you have the title in hand.

 

ms has never sold a car with money owed on it.

You need to sell it for a price you both agree upon. Then the buyer will provide the funds and you will pay your lender what you owe them such that your lender will release the title and you will sign it over to the new owner. You are entitled to keep the difference between what you sold the vehicle for and what you owe your lender. This isn't rocket science guys. If you sell it for less than you owe, you'll have some money. If you sell it for more than you owe you will need to supplement the "upside down" money to release the title.

 

+1 on having the buyer provide the funds for the payoff. I don't know your situation as far as if that 4500 is your emergency fund just in case something goes wrong with house/car whatever. I wouldn't break myself when there is another option that only involves a minor inconvenience. You will isolate some potential buyers who fear being scammed.


Isn't the bolded statement kind of backwards. OP owes 4500. If you sell it for more than you owe
(5000) you will have 500 left over. If you sell it for less than you owe (4000) you will have to cover the 500

 

wait a second... eNdit, are you telling me you need to sell your 06 asap for enough to pay the loan off? I'll give ya $5000 no problem

 

Yeah I'm confused? You can hopefully get atleast what? Maybe 14k?

 

Surf, what makes you think that ms hasn't sold a car with money owed on it? You are right about the process, but that wasn't why ms made the recommendation he did.

I think he is right. Think of it from a buyers standpoint. Would you hand a seller cash for a car that he doesn't hold the title too? You would have to trust that he is will actually turn over the money to the lien holder. If he doesn't, you won't get the title to the car.
What is the seller just entered bankruptcy? You're screwed.
What if the seller owes more than you gave him and can't/won't come up with the rest? You're screwed.

As a buyer, I am very careful about buying a car that someone owes money on. It makes the transaction a lot more complicated unless you are willing to absolutely trust a seller that you don't know. I did it when I bought my FD and I did it when I bought my Z, but it was a pain to do it in such a way as to ensure that there was no way that I could get scammed by the seller.

OP, if you have the cash to pay off the loan, do it. If the lender is local to you, then you can just walk in with cash and get your title. At the most, it may take a couple days to get your title from the lien holder. Then, selling is easy. You get the cash from the buyer and then sign the title over to them. If you want to sell the car for the best price and in the shortest amount of time, then you want to have highest number of potential buyers. Why eliminate all the cautious buyers or have to sell the car at a small discount because the buyer has to trust you to come through on your end?

 

I agree. I've purchased many used vehicles and if the seller doesn't have the title i don't even consider it. There are too many scammers out there these days to take a risk. The only way i would consider such a transaction is if i could personally go to the bank with the seller to pay off the loan and get them to send ME the title.

 

You only owe $4500.00 how bad can the payments be on it that you can't hold onto it? This ins't the time to be trying to sell a car and not get ripped off.

 

I think Surfcity40 was not paying attention, I'm glad some folks have comprehension skills. I, like many others, will not buy a car that the seller does not have the title in hand for... you are just inviting potential complications and issues by doing this. It can often take weeks or months for the lender to get around to sending the title to the original owner... then you have to trust that they are going to be timely in passing the title on to you, in the mean time you would have to drive the car around without it being properly registered.

 

I did exactly that. I drove with the seller to his credit union and was standing there as the loan was paid off and was handed the title by the credit union.

Dave

 

why sell a car that you owe 4500 on? how bad can the payments be???? etc etc etc must be something in the etc

 

Maybe the 4500 is a typo? 14500 perhaps?

 

If he only owes 4500 left on a 06, it's probably a 48 month loan? So payments are probably 700-800 dollars. If it's a 60 month loan, then maybe 600 dollars a month, with 8-9 payments left?

 

Isn't that backwards? if you sell it for less than you owe, you'll need to supplement the upside down money, If you sell it for more than you owe, you will have money left over.

 

Thats what I thought too

 

My bad, I didn't notice you covered that already.

 

No prob, I just found it funny that he made the rocket science comment then got it backwards himself.

 

Heck, I do that all the time. Of course, I'm aged so I have an excuse.